If you plan to transit through or visit several of 15 popular European countries on the same trip for up to 90 days for personal or business purposes, you must now obtain a personal Schengen visa. Though this may sound like an extra hurdle, the Schengen visa has actually made traveling between its 15 European member countries much easier and less bureaucratic than before. The Schengen visa basically allows the visa holder to travel to any (or all) member countries using just one single visa, thus avoiding the hassle and expense of obtaining individual visas for each country. This is particularly beneficial for persons who wish to visit several European countries during the same trip. Travelers obtain the visa from the Consulate of the country of their main destination. If your main destination cannot be determined, the country you first enter is responsible for granting your visa. One thing many travelers may not know about the Schengen visa application process, however, is that you must provide proof of health insurance to obtain it. As a result, a market for Schengen visa insurance has been born. The insurance (a sound idea even if it were not required) is designed to pay expenses that might arise in connection with repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical attention, and/or emergency hospital treatment. Since June of 2004, travelers who are subject to the visa requirement to stay or transit in one or several Schengen countries must demonstrate, in support of their visa application, that they are in possession of adequate and valid travel insurance. In other words, without travel insurance, the visa will not be issued. Two different Schengen visas require travel insurance The short-stay visa (category C), as noted above, is the most common Schengen visa, issued for purposes of tourism, business, family or private visit or to get married. The transit visa (category B) is issued to entitle travelers who are going from one outside State to another outside State to pass through the territories of the Schengen states. Category A, the airport transit visa, does not require travel insurance. Though all Schengen countries are in Europe, travelers would do well not to confuse Shengen countries with European Union (EU) countries. Schengen and EU demarcate two different agreements between European countries.

The Schengen Treaty Countries Austria Germany Belgium Denmark Finland France Greece Iceland Italy Luxemburg Norway Portugal Spain Sweden The Netherlands The Schengen area consists of 15 countries within the Europe zone (see box). Certain states, two of them being significant members of the European Union (the United Kingdom and Ireland), do not belong to the Schengen area. Two other countries, Norway and Iceland, while not members of the European Union, are nevertheless part of the Schengen area. In regards to France and the Netherlands, the Schengen Convention only applies to their European territories. The Principality of Monaco, for example, allows entry on its territory without any formality to the holder of a Schengen visa. In order to be granted entry into the Schengen area, non-European nationals must produce, if so requested, the documents justifying the purpose and the conditions of their stay. They must also have sufficient means of subsistence both for the duration of their stay and their return. Of course, after that point, third-country nationals enjoy free movement in the Schengen area for a maximum period of three months if they are not subject to the visa requirement. If a Schengen visa is required, it will specify the duration of the authorized stay, which cannot exceed 90 days per six-month period. In both cases, the entry or transit of a non-EEA traveler in the Schengen area is materialized by stamping the travel document to determine the starting point of the authorized stay. The travel document must also be stamped on exiting the Schengen area.

Schengen visa insurance requirements Medical insurance for the Schengen visa must meet the following requirements: Medical coverage of at least $37,500 The company that offers such coverage must have a representative office in Europe Schengen visa insurance can be easily bought online from reputable vendors (www.insureg1g.com ) lists detailed cost and enrollment information), with medical coverage typically purchased in limits of $50,000, $100,000, $500,000, and $1 million. Depending upon your age and the amount of coverage selected, premiums can range from $1 to $10 per day. You can expect that most sellers of Schengen insurance will immediately e-mail you a “Certificate of Coverage” which should then be shown to the Consulate from which you are applying for a visa and also carried with your throughout your trip to the Schengen countries. Travelers thinking about trying to scam the system by ordering Schengen visa insurance and then canceling such coverage once your Schengen visa is issued can forget about trying that tactic. To counter such fraud, companies issuing Shengen visa insurance have very strict rules on cancellation. Most agencies require “wet ink cancellers” to show proof of cancelled airline tickets, an entire copy of their passport, and to “call in” from anywhere in the U.S. during the dates they were to be in Europe. And if that’s not enough, the issuing insurance company might even inform the European Consulate of the cancellation, which, of course, would then trigger a absolute refusal of entry should that person show up in any Schengen country seeking entry. As noted above, it would be a wise idea to carry traveler’s insurance no matter the destination, and this requirement for the Schengen visa should not be something travelers resist, but rather view as a welcome formality.